Australia’s smaller states and territories all exceeded the national Gross Domestic Product growth last financial year, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The Northern Territory showed Gross State Product growth of 2.6% last financial year, while Tasmania, South Australia and the ACT all showed growth of 1.4%.

All Australian states and territories have shown positive economic growth in 2008-09, with growth in remaining states varying between 0.2% in New South Wales and 0.8% in Victoria.

All states were positive contributors to Australia's Domestic Final Demand growth in 2008–09. The strongest growth was in Northern Territory (up 7.9%), Western Australia (up 3.3%) and South Australia (up 2.5%). Growth in these three states was driven by strong private business investment. All other states experienced growth in State Final Demand at or below that of national Domestic Final Demand growth of 2.1%.

Volume growth in gross value added was positive in all states in 2008-09, except Tasmania where GVA growth showed a small decline. The strongest growth was in Western Australia (up 1.5%), followed by Australian Capital Territory (up 1.2%), Queensland (up 1.1%) and the Northern Territory (up 0.8%). Growth in Western Australia was driven by Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing (up 23.8%), while the ACT's growth was due to Professional, Scientific and Technical Services (up 5.1%) and Public Administration and Safety (up 3.0%). Queensland also experienced strong growth in Public Administration and Safety (up 5.6%) and Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing (up 10.4%). All states showed large decreases in GVA for Manufacturing, reflective of the national movement.

More details are available in the 17 December 2009 release of Australian National Accounts: State Accounts (cat. no. 5220.0).